Cancel Saudi arms deal now, don’t wait for the other shoe to drop

The feds should bite the bullet and contract General Dynamics to build a light armoured vehicle fleet for the Canadian military instead.

It’s embarrassing to watch Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland preach about defending human rights while simultaneously fearing the cancellation of a contract to supply Saudi Arabia with the combat capability to commit further repression, writes Scott Taylor. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

There was a very disturbing news story last week about a Saudi Arabian airstrike in Yemen that killed 50 civilians and injured a further 77. What was particularly upsetting about this incident was that the main thing hit had been a school bus and the majority of the victims were young children. The graphic photographs that appeared in media reports showed bloodied and bewildered innocent youngsters.

Democracy, Terrorism and Killer Robots: Embassy News covers the 2015 Halifax International Security ForumThe Halifax International Security Forum is one of the world’s biggest gatherings of defence and security leaders.

Unless Trudeau plans to be out on these streets, fighting against police brutality or in cabinet drafting legislation to curb police powers, his, and all the other white voices of his ilk, have no merit here.

'I do agree that things need to be implemented as quickly as possible. We could've done this a lot sooner. The good news is that we’re doing it now and announcing it today,' says Transport Minister Marc Garneau.